So, if the law is holy, just, and good, has anything happened to it? No, verse 13 says, “Wherefore has what is good become to me the cause of death?” Did it suddenly deteriorate badly? Did this law, which was a reflection of God`s life, this law, which was given to us to show us how to truly live and be blessed, suddenly degenerate into something evil? No. “May it never be” – again for the fourth time. No, no, no, absolutely not, impossible. “It was more of a sin” – the second time he said it. Verse 11: “It was a sin to seize the opportunity by commandment.” Here he says it is a sin. “It was a sin, that it could be shown that it was a sin, by causing my death by good, that by the commandment sin might become entirely sinful. Go back to Deuteronomy 27-28, go back to this whole section, God says, “You obey me, you will be blessed; you obey Me, you will be blessed; This is my law. Do as he says; You will be blessed. That is, this commandment was ordained to show you what a full, rich, and blessed life is.
And it still is. Now, when you read a law of God, you know that it tells you what God wants you to do so that you can be blessed. In Proverbs 3: “My son, do not forget my teaching; Let your heart keep my commandments. For long days and long years of life and peace, they will add something to you. God said, “Here he is. Do this and live; Do this and rejoice; Do this and be blessed. Do this and have peace. There is nothing wrong with the law; it is a reflection of God`s sacred nature, and when followed, it produces blessings.
The law shows us justice, but there is nothing we can do to keep the law. And therein lies the problem. The law requires behavior contrary to the desires of the heart. That is the first thing. The law requires behavior contrary to the desires of the heart. This goes completely against the current of the unregenerated heart. He demands – more than that, he demands, he commands things against nature. He asks you to do what you can`t do, to love what you don`t want and can`t love. He asks sinners – who love sin; who love darkness; who love the world, the flesh, lust – cease to love all this and love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength; To love one`s neighbor as he loves himself; to obey the Ten Commandments, which are then extended through God`s moral law. Thus, the law requires the sinner – it requires the sinner – it requires and commands the sinner to do what is absolutely contrary to the will and desire of the sinner. It was heartening to hear a young woman in baptism testify of how the Lord used the series we do on the great teachings of the Bible in her own life to lead her to a true knowledge of the gospel and salvation.
And that, of course, is ultimately what we intend to do with all the things we teach. And another question arises in this context, and that is the question in chapter 7, verse 7, and this is where we want to begin tonight. The law offers us a demonstration of what true spiritual life looks like. Sixth, the law is a relentless master of task. It never abates; It never lightens the load. The law never gives permission to the sinner. The law knows – this is the word of modern times – the law does not know “amnesty”. There is never a moment when God says, “Okay, you have every two weeks off; You can do whatever you want, and you won`t be held accountable. It never fades; it never lightens the load; There is never a day off, an hour off, a minute or a second off. There is no respite from their demands.
No rest. Because the law is a perfect reflection of the perfection of God`s nature, it is absolutely holy. He is therefore directed against sinful behavior that he does not want to do; It forces him to do what he not only doesn`t want to, but can`t do. He establishes absolute perfection so that nothing less than this satisfies God. And God will not accept effort as comfort. Fourth, the law refuses to accept effort as consolation. Trying doesn`t help. Making an effort doesn`t matter.
Doing good things on a human level, making a noble effort, being a good person counts for absolutely nothing. You accumulate zero with all the human good you have done. The law, in developing its standards, must not seek to impose the good life as such; He must always weigh the benefits to be obtained through obedience with the harm that the crude instrument of coercion can cause. There are many ethical rules, the respect of which lies in the voluntary choice of those who try to follow them. Nevertheless, there are other rules that the law must apply for the benefit of the community. Ethics therefore perfects the law. In marriage, as long as love lasts, there is little need for laws to govern husband-wife relations, but the lawyer enters through the door while love flies out the window. The law therefore only sets standards that are considered essential, regardless of the reason for compliance. In a sense, the law may be a “minimal ethic,” but often the law has to resolve disputes that ethical rules shed very little light on – if two people who are not guilty of negligence have suffered as a result of third-party fraud, who should bear the damage? Ethics may suggest that loss should be divided equally, but this is not a very practical rule for law that requires certain rules for the transfer of title and the performance of contracts. Now Paul will add one last thought to verses 12 and 13. It is a, let`s just call it a fourth work of the law. The law reflects the sinfulness of sin.
The law reflects the sinfulness of sin. Bunyan is wonderful – I`ll end with this – Pilgrim`s Progress, there`s a scene where Christian is brought into a room. Some of you will remember that. And he is brought into the room by the interpreter. It`s a big room, and it`s thick with dust, and dust is where the dust should stay. A man walks into this enclosed space with a broom and starts sweeping up the dust. And so much dust is created in the Bunyan scene that Christian is almost choked by the dust. And Bunyan tells us in his beautiful photos that the big room is the heart. Dust is sin. And that`s put aside until the interpreter takes Christian. And they are there, and the interpreter interprets the truth. And the man who comes with the broom is the law, and what the law does is stir the dust everywhere, enough to choke you.